Gates: Sure, I’ll have a beer with Crowley and Obama

posted at 7:00 pm on July 25, 2009 by Allahpundit

Sounds fun, especially for Crowley. What better way to spend a Saturday night than being lectured by two leftist Ivy League pedants on a subject you’re already an expert in? If the rhetoric has already reached the point of teeth-gnashing pretentiousness demonstrated below — “larger meaning,” “teaching moment” — imagine what it’ll be like in person.

Maybe they can have a “friendly” chat about that documentary on racial profiling that Crowley’s inspired Gates to make.

“It was very kind of the President to phone me today. Vernon Jordan is absolutely correct: my unfortunate experience will only have a larger meaning if we can all use this to diminish racial profiling and to enhance fairness and equity in the criminal justice system for poor people and for people of color.

And to that end, I look forward to studying the history of racial profiling in a new documentary for PBS. I told the President that my principal regret was that all of the attention paid to his deeply supportive remarks during his press conference had distracted attention from his health care initiative. I am pleased that he, too, is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment, and if meeting Sgt. [James] Crowley for a beer with the President will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige.

After all, I first proposed that Sgt. Crowley and I meet as early as last Monday. If my experience leads to the lessening of the occurrence of racial profiling, then I would find that enormously gratifying. Because, in the end, this is not about me at all; it is about the creation of a society in which ‘equal justice before law’ is a lived reality.”

Right, except that arguably Gates’s problem with Crowley is that he did distribute equal justice. He saw a guy attempting to break into a house, confronted him about it, and when the guy popped off, he hauled him in for disorderly conduct — even though he’s a public intellectual, Harvard eminence, and official Friend of Barack. To put it another way, Crowley stands accused of two distinct abuses of power: Wrongly arresting a suspect because he’s black and wrongly arresting a suspect because he was rude. One is racist, the other isn’t. Ashley Herzog’s point that insolence towards police does not a criminal make is well taken, but of course that wasn’t the type of abuse Gates and Obama hinted at; they opted for theory number one, not number two. The question is why. Take it away, Patterico.

It must annoy cops (and their apologists) that they can’t arrest folks for giving them attitude on the internet. Maybe that explains all the name calling and STFUs.

As I said, cops are about the only people who can punish those who give them attitude. The internet, on the other hand, is about the only place you can actually tell a cop what you think without fear of recrimination. I know that cops aren’t very fond of citizen YouTube videos of the boys in blue.

Go crawl back under your rock, you deadbeat, sack of sh*t! You’re making a complete a$$ of yourself.

HornetSting on July 26, 2009 at 5:28 PM

Thanks so much for your reasoned and persuasive comments. In terms of facts, however, garbagemen have a higher fatality rate than LEOs, and I don’t think that anyone would say that garbagemen get the kind of appreciation their important job deserves.

Of all occupations, protective-service occupations suffered the greatest relative increase in workplace fatalities in 2007, jumping 20% to 314.

It ranks Police Officers at 10 and Waste at 9 but describes the dangers as quite different. No one is actively trying to kill their garbage man – well – you might be to bump up the stats – but by and large it’s apples and oranges. And you are stil a moron.

Garbage men deal with wreaking maggot encrusted filth, cops also deal with wreaking maggot encrusted filth. The difference is the garbage men throw it in the back of the truck and compact it, the cops have to actually touch it and drive it around in the back of their cars. Also, the cops garbage might shoot back.

All of you white conservatives have proven Eric Holder’s observation that we are a nation of cowards when it comes to discussing issues of race to be extremely prescient. All you people do is make snarky comments, villify socially knowledgeable black people as “leftists” and/or “elites”, and stick your fingers in your ears and yell “I’m not a racist! I’m not a racist!” to avoid addressing whether or not race sometimes is a factor in the decisions we all make. AP, you lead the charge, and your ignorant readers follow. Cowards. The bottom line is, if Skip Gates were white, he in all likelihood would not have been arrested, and you all know it. There was NO reason for Crowley to arrest Gates, and even with Crowley being cleared of any wrongdoing, the fact that the disorderly conduct charge was dropped the next day proves that Obama’s characterization of the arrest as stupid was spot on. It’s time you assholes grew up and stopped throwing up smoke screens when it comes to issues like this. Gates is absolutely right that this issue isn’t about him. He’ll be fine. It’s the millions of low-income black men who are twice as likely to be arrested as are their white counterparts simply because of their race that this is about, and try as you may, you cowards will not just wipe this away with a bunch of snarky, ignorant, and pseudo-racist comments. Grow up white people!

LEOs are #10. I posted the list the other day. You can look it up. Fishermen are #1, I think loggers are #2.

Garbagement, Truck drivers, Airplane Pilots, Construction workers, all have more dangerous jobs than cops. It’s almost twice as dangerous to be a farmer/rancher as it is to be cop.

When I talk about corrupt cops and internal affairs departments, cops say that I shouldn’t believe everything I see on tv, notwithstanding how ever commission that has looked into police corruption in NYC since the 19th century has said the same thing: endemic corruption.

But cops want us to believe how dangerous their job is. That part of tv & Hollywood they want us to believe. Even though the vast majority of cops never have to draw their weapon.

It ranks Police Officers at 10 and Waste at 9 but describes the dangers as quite different. No one is actively trying to kill their garbage man – well – you might be to bump up the stats – but by and large it’s apples and oranges. And you are stil a moron.

BrideOfRove on July 26, 2009 at 6:34 PM

How nice of you to accuse me of attempted murder.

Dead is dead, whether you get shot on duty, die in a car wreck that you cause (which is included in the stats), or get crushed in a garbage truck. Your family grieves just as much. The main difference is that the garbageman doesn’t get a parade and a military style funeral.

Are you saying that the life of a policeman is worth more than that of a garbageman?

I’ve had a gun pointed at me and I managed waste, including operating equipment that could kill me. At least I had a chance of talking the gunman out of it. A hydraulic crusher doesn’t listen very well.

Police want it both ways. They want the excuse that they’re only doing a job and they want us to think that they are noble public servants.

Wow 5 pages of comments. Sorry if someone has brought this up however. Why a beer? Why not just to have a conversation or why not a glass of wine or a mixed drink? Just because he is a officer of the law makes him too stupid to have a conversation not pitched as a “buddy beer get together” how many other people have been invited for a “beer” Sarovsky, Putin, imadinnerjacket?? And to think the officer was the racist one/sarc!

The bottom line is, if Skip Gates were white, he in all likelihood would not have been arrested, and you all know it.

here was NO reason for Crowley to arrest Gates, and even with Crowley being cleared of any wrongdoing, the fact that the disorderly conduct charge was dropped the next day proves that Obama’s characterization of the arrest as stupid was spot on.
underceij on July 26, 2009 at 6:35 PM

Ok, as a Caucasian I’ll play.
Gates had been white, after the first mama comment he would have been on his ass & his telephone privileges suspended.

They may both be somewhat responsible but your man Gates still looks like a whiny chip on his shoulder leftist.

It is likely that a belligerent white guy would be arrested much faster than Gates because the officer(s) probably would not modify his(their) response out of fear that yet another tiresome, worn-out race card might be played by an activist media with a more of a chip on their shoulders than a punk like Scofflaw Skip.

It is likely that a belligerent white guy would be arrested much faster than Gates because the officer(s) probably would not modify his(their) response out of fear that yet another tiresome, worn-out race card might be played by an activist media with a more of a chip on their shoulders than a punk like Scofflaw Skip.

viking01 on July 26, 2009 at 8:05 PM

100+
But you’ll never convince the whiny black race-mongers of that. Victimhood is such a comfortable pair of pajamas.

Agreed. I think the HA forum should be one of intelligent discussion, and not one of name calling or insults.

The bottom line is, if Skip Gates were white, he in all likelihood would not have been arrested, and you all know it.

I am certain that if I insulted an officer or resisted his/her instructions, I would be in deep doo-doo no matter if I was white and they were black, or the other way around. We should not only respect one another in matters of race, but in matters of authority.

All of you white conservatives have proven Eric Holder’s observation that we are a nation of cowards … It’s time you a**holes grew up and stopped throwing up smoke screens when it comes to issues like this.

As for your comment above, please refer to your comment at the top of this post. Sounds snarky to me.

All of you white conservatives have proven Eric Holder’s observation that we are a nation of cowards … It’s time you a**holes grew up and stopped throwing up smoke screens when it comes to issues like this

How very courageous of him to call us white a**holes while hiding behind the anomymity of the web.

It’s the millions of low-income black men who are twice as likely to be arrested

Actually I think it’s between 3 and 4 times more likely. This is a nation of laws, maybe those black men who keep getting arrested should stop breaking those laws (and perpetrating their crimes against other blacks).

Once upon a time urban males were less likely to be stopped by cops or arrested because their own inner-city culture once demanded and expected they be sitting in school or working a job rather than cruising the ‘jects yammering on cell phones hoping their ridiculous baggies won’t keep falling over their two-hundred dollar sneakers while chattering away at how badly The Man has kept them down.

Strange but being a Sunday,I bet I can find 4-5 shootings in my city from last night.During the week in the summer, it’s rare but occasionally we get an evening without a shooting.
But the racist police and local media make every one of those shooting in the central city.
About every night or so there will be a robbery shown on TV.
A gas station, a convince store, a bank. But those racist police and local media, 99 times out of 100, will show the robber on the video tape being a black man.
My family is in the home improvement business.We work all over the metro area. But our racist employees only get things stolen off the job site or their service trucks in the central city.
You know, there are racist people all around me making up the fact that most of the violent crime, burglary and robbery in our area is by black males. It’s not fair to report the news that way.

Or don’t you think that if you’re charged with a crime you have a right to an attorney?

rokemronnie on July 26, 2009 at 10:00 PM

Well, well, well…at last, we agree on something. But I’d take it further: if you’re charged with a crime and you are acquitted, I think the government should pay your attorney’s fees. Lots of people who are aquittted are financially ruined in the process.

His union stands by him, his department and chief stand behind him and the mayor does to. It doesn’t matter what the governor or president think.

As for what the general public will think, I doubt anyone that isn’t a race pimp thinks he’s a racist, so his reputation won’t suffer no matter what Gates says. If he wants to he’s welcome to sue Gates for defamation.

His job is in no danger.

Boy, for guys with guns and a lot of power, cops sure like to whine like victims.

I think the government should pay your attorney’s fees. Lots of people who are aquittted are financially ruined in the process.

guntotinglibertarian on July 26, 2009 at 10:06 PM

Which is why, as a society, we have to be exceedingly careful with police power. Part of that is not letting police officers abuse their power by arresting otherwise innocent people who had the temerity to talk balk to a cop.

Believe me, civilization will not crumble.

You say that those who are acquitted should have their legal fees paid for by the state (subsidizing wealthy defendants, btw, who can afford an expensive defense). Gates had his charges dropped. Now had he incurred legal expenses. Would you agree that those expenses should have been compensated by the state?

Now had he incurred legal expenses. Would you agree that those expenses should have been compensated by the state?

rokemronnie on July 26, 2009 at 10:16 PM

If he had been tried and acquitted, yes.

And why should wealthy defendants be treated any differently? It’s a matter of justice, not a matter of income of social class. Innocent is innocent – one should not have to sacrifice property if one is innocent.

Well, well, well…at last, we agree on something. But I’d take it further: if you’re charged with a crime and you are acquitted, I think the government should pay your attorney’s fees. Lots of people who are aquittted are financially ruined in the process.

Crowley has been given the kiss of death. He has now been labled a racist by every white liberal, black citizen, black “leader” right up to the POTUS. From this point forward this man will be under the microscope for every arrest he makes of any minority person and like GITMO detainees they will yell “racial profiling” every time he shows up. This man’s police career is now over.

Boy, for guys with guns and a lot of power, cops sure like to whine like victims.

rokemronnie on July 26, 2009 at 10:10 PM

The heck it isn’t. This guy will now draw lawsuits like crap draws flies. There is NO WAY this department is going to take on that liability. The best he can hope for is being assigned to the evidence locker.

And why should wealthy defendants be treated any differently? It’s a matter of justice, not a matter of income of social class. Innocent is innocent – one should not have to sacrifice property if one is innocent.

guntotinglibertarian on July 26, 2009 at 10:19 PM

Because wealthy people can afford a more expensive defense in the first place.

BTW, medical care is not a constitutional right but legal representation is. Why is there a big push for a national health plan, but not for a national legal care plan?

Anything they do with doctors makes even more sense with lawyers because of the whole Gideon and Miranda thing. So from now on, lawyers don’t charge you directly but rather there will a national plan that decides how much their compensation will be, determined by the federal government. Lawyers will no longer be able to turn away clients based on ability to pay or how fat the retainer is.

In for? I’ve never spent the night in jail, nor have I been sentenced to jail. No felonies. Can still get a gun, can still sell medical marijuana (well, if I want to – the math works out real nicely so I’m looking into starting a cooperative with some friends). Have I been behind bars? Shit, getting arrested is as American as apple pie.

Had Jerry Jeff Walker not been in the drunk tank, he’d never have written Mr. Bojangles. Hell, without jail, there wouldn’t hardly be any country music.

Wonder what the ratio of cops shot is to innocent black “victims” shot.
About 150 Cops have been killed in the past year…many more shot at or wounded.
I am guessing 100 to 1, for every “innocent” victim, I say 100 cops are shot by the other 99.
This guy and his antics encourages cops to be shot, and victims to resist.
He is a petty, belligerent, racist, living in a world that has long ago disappeared. But then he is a professor, which makes him almost certain to be out of touch with reality.

Disorderly conduct/Disturbing the peace is a crime and takes effect when you leave your residence and venture forth into your front yard. As soon as someone complains and looks your way at your disturbance, it’s a crime. Oh and by the way, you can never disturb the peace of a peace officer, it has to be a civilian. Good arrest.

Hopefully Sgt. Crowley will be able to hold his own. I’m sure these two blowhards could talk incessently and filibuster any points he’s trying to make. Hopefully he’s prepared to educate these ignorant men on police policy and what legally constitutes disorderly conduct.

It’s so classic. The assumption is that Gates was the most “hurt” by this debacle. They treat him as if he’s the martyr when he’s the problem. His attitude is the issue. “Mighty big of you there Skippy…” Not.

“As always, whitey now sits in judgment of me, preparing to cast my fate. It is your decision either to let me blow with the wind as a nonentity or to encourage the development of self. Allow me to prove myself.”

from Gates’ undergraduate application to Yale University (he was accepted).

This incident displays the racism harbored by Gates and Obama. It is racism, pure and simple. It is condescension by a member of one race about another.
Racism; Pure and simple. Being called by Barack Obama and Mr. Gates. No matter what spin is applied by the media, the White House, Gates, Obama, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Nancy Pelosi, Bawnee Frank, etc., etc., etc.

TrickyDick on July 27, 2009 at 1:55 PM
I agree; But we’re in the midst of a “Reparation Movement” by the media, White House, all minorities, etc.
In other words, war on the white man who created the priveleges that these people are abusing, to base their complaints on.

If and when these guys ever do get together for a “beer”, I’d like to be a fly on the wall to see two EEO appointments go up against an educated cop. You can bet the embarrassment that comes out from Obama and Gates will never make public consumption.
But, Crowley could write a book!

Let’s see. Obama, his friend Gates, and officer Crowley sitting down over beer. Is it possible that one of those fellows might be the odd man out?

Crowley could be put in the position of arguing against his President, or tacitly endorsing whatever statement Obama makes after the photo op. I recall reading somewhere that he voted for the Big O. I wonder how he feels about that choice now?

Today’s newser about the Caimbridge PD studying this event sure seems like an effort to soften their position. They’re moving from “we stand behind Crowley 100%” to “we’ll see what we could’ve done better”.

All of you white conservatives have proven Eric Holder’s observation that we are a nation of cowards when it comes to discussing issues of race to be extremely prescient. All you people do is make snarky comments, villify socially knowledgeable black people as “leftists” and/or “elites”, and stick your fingers in your ears and yell “I’m not a racist! I’m not a racist!” to avoid addressing whether or not race sometimes is a factor in the decisions we all make. AP, you lead the charge, and your ignorant readers follow. Cowards.

So real “courage” is not having your own opinion, it’s swallowing whatever The Black Community says. Who knew?

The bottom line is, if Skip Gates were white, he in all likelihood would not have been arrested, and you all know it. There was NO reason for Crowley to arrest Gates, and even with Crowley being cleared of any wrongdoing, the fact that the disorderly conduct charge was dropped the next day proves that Obama’s characterization of the arrest as stupid was spot on.

On the contrary, shoving a door down in a rental community is a great wrong, and we expect it will involve an immediate, pointed police inquiry. If a police department didn’t handle it as a violent crime-in-progress, we would be very upset, and probably start a neighborhood watch and buy a gun, and handle such messes ourselves. If you think we have greater tolerance of white fools hollering at cops and breaking down their own doors, you have never lived among methheads.

It’s time you assholes grew up and stopped throwing up smoke screens when it comes to issues like this. Gates is absolutely right that this issue isn’t about him. He’ll be fine. It’s the millions of low-income black men who are twice as likely to be arrested as are their white counterparts simply because of their race that this is about, and try as you may, you cowards will not just wipe this away with a bunch of snarky, ignorant, and pseudo-racist comments. Grow up white people!

I think you’re the one who can’t discuss what goes down between two men in a house in Massachusetts, without dragging up the FBI crime statistics. It does come down to Dr. Gates, his obvious lies about yelling, his smoke screen that it doesn’t matter who’s right, as long as we blame the white cop and ‘draw lessons’.

The dirt bag is going to take millions of tax payers dollars and make a documentary telling all us whitey’s that we are racists. He’s going to get a new vacation house out of this deal. We are the suckers. This guy has lead a charmed life. I’m about the same age as this guy and he was half way through college before I sat in one class. I paid for every college course I ever took, all in state institutions. The only white guys who have ever given this guy the evil eye are the waiters in the foo foo restaurants he dines in who get stiffed by the dirtbag. This guy has made himself rich by convincing lower class blacks that their position in life is because of whitey and no matter what they do they can never get out of their predicament. He does that from television studios where he is driven by his “driver” in an expensive european car.

Smokes and drinks daily. If I had to crawl into bed with michelle every night I would drink heavily also. Anyone notice that the tv camermen and the photographers try to get pictures of her from the waste up or only from the front. That woman has a butt that weighs more then my fifteen year old high son. It is a monster and I bet it has a life of it’s own. Like the plant in Little Shop of Horrors, “Feed me!”

There has been a tradition since the johnson administration that only American beers are consumed in the white house. The official sock puppet gibbs said this morning that gates will be drinking becks.